King Aethelred the Unready Family Tree & Biography (966-1016)

 

King Aethelred the Unready was a member of the House of Wessex. He was the son of King Edgar by his second wife Aelfthryth of Devon. When his father died in 975, his half-brother Edward became King. However, Aethelred’s mother was not happy and challenged his saying that Aethelred should have been chosen as king instead.  

Contents

King Aethelred the Unready Family Tree Image
King Aethelred the Unready Family Tree in Table Form
King Aethelred the Unready Short Biography

 

King Aethelred the Unready Family Tree Image showing:

grandparents, parents sibling, half-sibling, wives, children and grandchildren

 

King Aethelred the Unready Family Tree in Table Form showing:

grandparents, parents sibling, half-sibling, wives, children and grandchildren

 

 

King Aethelred the Unready Short Biography

Early Years

Aethelred the Unready was born around 966 the second son of King Edgar by his second wife Aelfthryth. His nickname ‘unready’ comes from the old English word meaning ill-advised. Aethelred had an elder brother Edmund, who died in 970 at the age of 5 years, and an elder half-brother Edward who had been born in 962.

When Aethelred’s father, King Edgar, died in July 975 the matter of the succession was put before the Witan (a council of senior earldorman). Aethelred and his brother Edward were minors and both had their supporters among the nobility. However, Edward had the support of the Archbishop of Canterbury and he was nominated King.

Murder of Edward

Aethelred’s mother was not at all happy with the decision and worked against King Edward at every opportunity. On 18th March King Edward paid a visit to his half-brother and stepmother, Aelfthryth, at Corfe Castle. When he arrived he was stabbed to death by Aelfthryth’s retainers.

Following his brother’s death, Aethelred became King with his mother acting as regent.

King of England

Throughout the 980s there were sporadic Viking raids on the south coast. After Sweyn Forkbeard became leader of the Vikings the raids became more frequent. Aethelred the Unready was unable to defeat them and was forced to pay repeated Danegeld payments to make them go away.

On 13th November, St Brice’s Day, Aethelred ordered the massacre of all Danes living in England. He wanted to prevent them from joining forces with Sweyn Forkbeard and overpowering the Anglo-Saxons. Many Danes were killed including Sweyn Forkbeard’s sister.

After the event the Viking raids intensified as Forkbeard sought revenge for the murder of his people. Aethelred was still unable to defeat the Vikings and was forced to make more Danegeld payments.

Marriages and Family

When he came of age, Aethelred the Unready married Aelfgifu, daughter of the Earl of Northumbria and they had nine children:

Aethelstan (985 – 1014)
Ecgbert (d. 1005)
King Edmund Ironside (990 – 1016)
Eadred (d. 1012)
Eadwig (d. 1017)
Edgar (d. 1012)
Eadgyth (995 – 1022),
Aelfgifu (997 – 1042),
Wulfthryth (998 – 1042);

Aelfgifu died in 1002 and Aethelred married Emma of Normandy, daughter of the Duke of Normandy, the same year. They had three children:

King Edward the Confessor (1002 – 1033)
Alfred (1005 – 1037)
Godgifu (1004 – 1047)

Later Reign

The Viking raids continued and by 1012 the Danegeld payments had increased to the extortionate sum of £48,000 (17 kg of silver). Although Aethelred made the payments the Vikings always returned.

By December 1013, Sweyn had conquered most of England and he declared himself King of England. Aethelred, Emma and their children fled Normandy.

In February 1014, Forkbeard died. He nominated his son, Canute to succeed him but the English nobles did not support this choice and called for Aethelred to return as king.

In August 1015 Canute invaded England with a large force determined to take the throne. He took Northumbria before marching towards London where he was met by the forces of Edmund Ironside, Aethelred’s eldest son.

Aethelred was now aged 50 years (an old age in Anglo-Saxon times) and died on 23rd April 1016. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Edmund Ironside.

 

Published Apr 10 2022 – Updated – Dec 4 2024